Few recreational activities appeal to such a wide age range and have withstood the test of time as well as miniature golf. Today it’s no surprise to find grandparents enjoying a round with their grandchildren who once played as kids with their own grandparents. Everybody loves miniature golf and that means that there’s often intense competition to create the best possible course in your area.

One way to stand out from the crowd is to take a unique twist on the game and introduce elements that aren’t as common. By offering guests something outside the box of windmills and loop-de-loops you can make your course one-of-a-kind and reap the rewards of more players every day. If you have a miniature golf course you want to renovate, or are considering building a new course, here are some excellent options to make your course stand out from the crowd.

1) Jumping Holes Take it Up a Level

Designing holes which have two or more distinct areas is nothing new, as designers have been using underground tubes to transport balls from the starting green to a second area with the hole for decades. What’s less common is opting to bridge that gap with a jumping obstacle. ABC’s miniature golf game show, Holey Moley, has used this to great effect with a hole which features a curved wave players use to launch the ball to a green behind them, though even a simple ramp over a gap adds a new twist for players. Designs with jumps should take care to consider safety considerations by positioning the hole so that there is not a risk of launching the ball into other groups by using a safety net or ensuring the ramp does not face any other holes.

2) Compact Courses Through Vertical Design

One trend in miniature golf is building courses on smaller footprints due to the increasing costs and demands of owning large properties. While this can limit the size of your designs it doesn’t have to. By utilizing elevation to place holes which pass over or under others you can pack more miniature fun into every square foot of the property.

3) Themed Parks Set a Mood

Sometimes the decorations and obstacles on courses are more than just fun to look at and play around, they can tell a story. When you design a course around a single theme, such as Mayday Golf in South Carolina which puts you in the shoes of the survivors of a small plane crash, you can give your players a truly unique experience they can’t get at your competitors.

4) Sport Golf Truly Makes Golf Miniature

Despite its name, most mini golf courses don’t have too much in common with a round of real golf, however, sport golf courses aim to change that. With a sports course, a mini golf course designer seeks to more accurately recreate a truly miniature golf course. That means courses will often feature holes which resemble small golf courses, with doglegs, rough, sand traps and water hazards.

5) Glow-in-the-Dark Greatness

When you think of miniature golf you probably picture a sunny day outdoors, but that’s not so for all courses. One popular twist is moving the course indoors, lowering the incandescents and turning on the black lights. With a course covered in colorful UV paint, you get an eye-catching neon showpiece to wow your guests.

When it comes to making a course that players want to keep coming back to it’s all about delivering a fun, innovative experience. Don’t think you have to settle for just one of these design concepts, either. The more creative you get the more unique and appealing your course can be!